24-10-12 PHOTOS: HART and SPRING

For Columbus Day weekend 2024 I set myself the major goal of finally going to Hartford to explore the former New Haven station there and hiking out to the derelict HART interlocking tower north of the Central Business District. Despite going to school in the area and passing through Hartford countless times on Amtrak's Springfield Line, I had never found the time to get off there, even after the opening of the CR Rail Hartford commuter rail line in the 2010's as a stopover always seemed to involve getting to New Haven by like 8am. Well in 2024 I finally decided to bite the bullet and take overnight Train 66 to get to New Haven, but given some other priorities the plan became a bit more complicated ( mirror ) than catching it at the BWI Airport Rail Station.

The complication was needing to stop by Philly to see family at some point this weekend. My solution was to catch an afternoon Amtrak Regional to Philly, pop across the Delaware River on PATCO, deal with stuff, then return to 30th St in time for Train 66's midnight departure. This had me setting off from BWI in daylight where I managed to catch Veterans ACS-86 #642. MARC MP36PH-3C #35, SC44 #80 and cab cars #7852 and #8054 before my Regional with ACS-86 #616 arrived..

For some reason my Regional set had been reversed and I was able to get some photos and video out the back. Here my train transits northbound through the ailing B&P tunnel.



Making the cross-river transfer courtesy SEPTA and PATCO.

Finally returning to 30th St Station close to midnight where the short consist Regional Train 66 was sporting two ACS-86 electric locomotives, #664 and #662.

Because Train 66 can be pretty loud, to ensure a good night's sleep I managed to book a single seat one one of the old Metroliner Service first class cars that now serve as Business class on Train 66/67. I conked out at some point before Penn Station and when I got off New Haven and #664 was nowhere to be seen.

It was perfect October weather and Metro North M8 EMU's were hanging out on various shoppe and storage tracks.

With Shore Line East service having been M8-ified, the previously diesel hauled equipment was now on Hartford Line duty. My train was waiting on Tack 12 with P40DC #6711 in the Coke Zero scheme and Mafersa cab car #1701.

One might assume that things would be pretty quiet at 8am on a Saturday morning, but when I got out on Platform D I found three adjacent signals for track 10, 12 and 14 into SS78 FAIR ST interlocking displaying proceed indications.

M8 #9520 was on track #10 and given it's Metro North branding has been stickered over by Shore Line East, I figure it was lined up for a departure to points East.

For whatever reason Amtrak Phase III/40th Anniversary heritage unit #145 was running around the New Haven shoppe tracks.

Mafersa was Budd's Brazilian licensee and the cars definitely had a bit of a Silverliner II vibe inside. The table seating was a particularly nice amenity.

Arriving at Hartford I found a railfan was already at the end of the platform to get a photo of #6711.

Despite having had 4+ tracks in its heyday, today the old New Haven Railroad Hartford Station has only a single track. A passing siding less than a mile to the north means that southbound trains can show up quickly after a northbound departure, which in this case meant that Springfield Regional Train #125 with P42DC #112 pulled in about 5-10 minutes later.

A gap in service means a hi-rail track inspector can do their thing. Hartford's single platform was partly high-leveled in the 2010's when the Springfield Line was upgraded for commuter service. The stairway to the station facilities remain on the low level portion.

Hartford has that typical setup where the "transportation center" is crammed into a low space under the tracks, while the old railroad waiting room is reserved as an event space.

Considering Hartford is the third named place in "New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad", there is no doubt that it is going to have a nice station. The structure is made from Connecticut Valley brownstone with plenty of room for railroad offices and mail/express facilities. Who knows if the station will ever regain sufficient services to justify the restoration of more tracks.

My second point of interest in Hartford was SS214 HART tower, which still stands at the junction north of the station complex and at the south end of Hartford's freight yard. Built in the style of the preserved SS44 BERK in South Norwalk, time has unfortunately not been kind to HART with most of the upper story and interior collapsing over the past 2 decades.

 

 

The tower's location is not for those who find themselves scared of cities or urban decay, but like USPS workers, railfans are non-combatants and I attracted little attention from the prostitute turning a trick in a vehicle as I walked by to get set up in time for a northbound Amtrak Springfield shuttle Train 450 with P42DC #88 and Metroliner Cab Car #9633. The short tunnel is a cut and cover structure built under the intersection of Main St and Albany Ave.

SS214 HART is located at the preset day Amtrak HART interlocking, which provides a connection to a freight line to East Hartford, the CR Rail layover tracks and the Connecticut Southern RR yard and engine facility.

Although the roof and operator's floor has collapsed, the cranks that worked the switch pipelines are still present at the base of the tower.

I got back to the station just in time for #6711 and #1701 to make an encore appearance southbound. I would be continuing my journey on the next CT Rail train to Springfield with Mafersa cab car #1709 leading.

Pulling into Springfield Union Station a new crossover was being added to Amtrak SPRING interlocking that will provide access to station track 2A, which is currently only reachable from the former Conrail Boston Line.

The Amtrak Springfield Shuttle train with #88 and #9633 was waiting on high level track #4.

Power for my CT Rail train was provided by P40DC #6711. These former Amtrak locomotives were first sold to NJT before going into Shore Line East service.

In the time it took me to walk over to the elevated bike path over the Boston Line, #6711 set off on another southbound trip to New Haven.

A clear signal eastbound at CP-98 heralded the arrival of a CSX manifest freight led by AC4400 #470.

Right behind the CT Rail local, the Amtrak Shuttle with #88 and #9633 departed for New Haven.

What happened next was a real surprise. Apparently a failure with Metroliner cab car #9632, required Heritage P42DC #145 to lead with consist with 50th Anniversary P42DC #100 still on the rear.

New Haven Railroad tower SSE274 SPRING is in far better shape than its older sibling to the south. Although sheltered by the highway bright, it is starting to suffer from the effects of vandalism and disuse.

At this point my ride showed up and I made my way down past the Connecticut River Route Main Line's CPR-1 where a gamma ray rail inspection truck was scanning for defects.

My last stop of the day was at the Guilford Rail System Yard in East Deerfield, MA where a bevy of former CSX C40-8's and C40-8W's were hanging out along with leased GMTX cow-calf switcher #5000/#5001.

That's it for today. Next time I'll be back with photos from the Vermonter route and the return trip back south.